Not another generic High School AU!
by Punch A Fish In The Face
Summary: Too bad it isn't. This one's got bending in it! Republic City is a prison system that borders the main City, and holds those who oppose the Phoenix King's rule. Avatar City, the main city, is segregated by the Phoenix King Ozai into Districts based on race. Sozin's Comet, coming this summer, causes Firebenders to go crazy. The last hope, the Avatar, is unaware of his own power. Etc
1. Prologue: History Lesson

A/N  
>Good news everyone! Amy () has a problem with my AvatarTales of Symphonia crossover! For some reason, she (?) wants the crosover to be in a place where only diehard fans of fanfiction look: the Crossover Section! So, she'll probably flag the stories. Oh, well, I can start this.

All my stories will be completed one day. They'll be completed faster when (if) I get a personal computer I can use all day. Until then, it's on the weekends.

This is an Avatar The Last Airbender Modern Day (ish) High School AU. With Bending. I'll have a lot of events from the show directly transposed, including the introduction, but it'll be all out of order. Instead of boring everyone by having a narrator explain everything, they'll be described by characters in the plot. This chapter will be very dry, but it's the introduction and history lesson.

For future warning: there will be a LOT of pairings. If two people break up, they may or may not end up together a the end. I plan to keep everyone guessing.

Instead of talking about it, here it is:

End A/N

X X X

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

Air.

…

…

…

Energy.

Sand, Lightning, Metal, Blood…

…

Tear, Sludge, Perfume, glue…

…

Healing?

'No, Katara, just the first four. Like the show!'

X X X

A long time ago, the two cities lived together in harmony:

Avatar City and Republic City. Separated only by land, they coexisted peacefully. The Avatar was the person to keep the balance between them. That was where Avatar City got it's name. Republic City would be run by people the Avatar appoints, as a republic, hence the name.

This system worked great, and worked for thousands of years, without a hitch.

Then, everything changed, when the Comet first arrived.

One day, from out of nowhere, a comet streaked past the sky. The comet lets off some kind of radiation, and those who could firebend would find their gift quickly became a curse. The radiation caused a chemical imbalance in the brain, caused by skin contact, and the firebenders lost control of themselves.

It was a great tragedy, and Avatar Kuruk's wife Ummi died during the attack.

Avatar Kuruk was devastated by his loss, and so tried to find a way to keep the firebenders under control. Fifteen years later, the comet came again. But Avatar Kuruk had prepared everyone for that to happen again, and the Firebenders didn't cause as much of a tragedy.

Every fifteen years, Avatar Kuruk put all the firebenders under house arrest, so they wouldn't be affected by the Comet. But one firebender, Chin, disagreed with the way things went, and assassinated Avatar Kuruk with the help of Koh the Face Stealer... In exchange for his face after he dies.

Oma, an Earthbender from Avatar City, and Shu, an Earthbender from Republic City, made a secret tunnel system between the two Cities, so the non-firebenders could hide during the next Comet.

Twenty-eight years later, Avatar Kyoshi defeated Chin, now with 'The Conqueror' in his title, and she managed to get control of the Cities again. Avatar Kyoshi found a new way to protect Firebenders from the Comet, using a special fabric.

Almost two-hundred years had passed, Avatar Kyoshi tragically died in her sleep.

The new Avatar, Roku, was born, six years before the next Comet.

Roku met another boy, named Sozin. They became fast friends, and grew up together in Avatar City. The Comet went by without a hitch.

Ten years later, Roku and Sozin celebrated one of several things they had in common: their birthdays. That was when Roku found out he was the Avatar.

Two years later, Sozin married Azulon, a girl from Republic City. The next year, Roku married Ta Min, a girl from Avatar City. And one year after that, Sozin and Azulon had a baby, a boy they named Iroh.

Only Iroh and a few others know the truth about what happened in the past 50 years.

My brother and I live close to a tea shop Iroh owns: the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh told me and my brother everything that really happened since the Sun District covered everything up.

The Avatar and the Republic City council had almost lost control of the Firebenders the year after Iroh was born. Avatar Kyoshi came to Roku in a dream, and told him he needed to master the elements before the next Comet came in 15 years.

Roku left Sozin in charge of Avatar City while he left to learn Airbending, then Waterbending, then Earthbending. But that was the worst mistake Roku could have possibly made.

Sozin was mentally ill, and the onset came when Sozin turned 21. Sozin then separated Avatar City by the Bending Elements: The Sun District, on the Eastern Coast, where the Sun rises earliest. The North and South Moon Districts, on the Northern and Southern Coastlines, the Earth District, by the Mountains and Desert, and the four Sky Districts, on the four highest elevations.

My grandmother, Kanna, was born soon after the separation. Roku was unaware any changes happened, as he and Ta Min had no contact so Roku could complete his training faster.

Years passed, until finally, Roku had mastered Earthbending, with only a few months to spare until the Comet. When Roku returned, he was furious with Sozin.

Roku gave Sozin an ultimatum: reunify the Districts, or maintain control of them by himself.

Roku expected Sozin to give up right then and there. But Sozin's thinking skills were severely impacted by his disease. However, he had a very good idea for dealing with the comet: he got the approval of all the Firebenders, and they went into the Omashu caves.

Even Roku had to admit it was a good idea, but he still wouldn't take his place back to control Avatar City, or even to control Republic City.

One year later, Iroh met Ilah in a tea shop looking for a job. Another year later, Iroh and Ilah got engaged, and married soon after that.

Azulon and Ilah had both gotten pregnant, and their sons were born on the same day: Azulon and Sozin had their second son, Ozai. Iroh and Ilah had Lu Ten. Sozin passed on the gene for his disease, but because of Azulon's health, Ozai didn't have the disease, he was just a carrier. However, if Ozai ever used his X Chromosome and had a daughter, she would have the sickness, and it would onset at an early age.

(Pause for dramatic irony)

In the next three years, my Father Hakoda, my Mother Kya, and Roku and Ta Min's daughter Ursa were born.

During the next Comet, while everyone was under the caves, there was a massive earthquake, and the Firebenders tried to escape. Sozin was in no way prepared for this, and the Firebenders got out. It wasn't that big of a tragedy, but several people died, and people began to doubt Sozin's effectiveness a a ruler.

Roku just sat back and watched Sozin's loss of control. But Roku didn't realize things were about to get worse.

To keep control, Sozin declared himself Fire Lord, and put everyone on the Republic City council in prison for supicion of treason. Before Roku could stop Sozin, Sozin became dictator of both Cities.

Roku decided enough was enough, and took action. Roku disguised himself, and, not having any other options to try to get up near Sozin's political level of power, had his 16-year-old daughter Ursa marry Ozai, who was in his 20's.

Neither Roku, Ta Min, nor Ursa had expected Ozai to be a perfect gentleman, and neither Ursa, Roku, Ta Min, Ozai, or Azulon had expected Ursa and Ozai to fall in love.

I remember that year differently in my heart, because my parents married eachother.

Two years later, which was 16 years ago, the Chief of the North Moon District had her daughter, Yue, with Arnook, a man with high authority in that District. My brother Sokka was also born, and Ozai and Ursa had their first child: a son, Zuko.

The year after that, Ozai and Ursa had their second child: a daughter, Azula, named after Azulon herself. Oh, yeah, I was born too.

The next year, the Comet was supposed to come, but… Sozin did nothing about it. His top advisor tried his hardest to get him to do something, to sign the sheet needed to legally force the Firebenders underground. But Sozin knew who the advisor was: Roku.

Roku decided to take matters into his own hands: he made sure Iroh would watch Ilah, Azulon, Ta Min, and Ursa. Iroh was in his 40's, but Lu Ten and Ozai were younger, so Roku, Lu Ten, and Ozai used the fabrics Kyoshi had used long ago, and tried to evacuate the Sun District. Unfortunately, Firebenders were in all the Districts. The Moon, Earth, and Sky Districts easily outnumbered the Firebenders, so losses weren't _as_ bad… but my mother was killed.

Roku and Lu Ten were also killed. There was much grief and sorrow: Lu Ten was supposed to be Sozin's successor as Fire Lord. Lu Ten was supposed to fix what Sozin and Roku had broken. But now, he was gone.

Iroh had revoked his birthright, and Ozai received it in his stead.

Sozin was celebrated as a hero, and blamed Roku for the order not being passed to send everyone underground. The accident would be called the Sun Riots.

After Ilah died from shock, Iroh was relieved of his governmental duties. At least Sozin cared about his family.

When Sozin died, Ozai came into power. Everyone hoped he would fix everything. But they were wrong.

Ozai didn't change anything at all. In fact, things got even worse. After suspicions of treason, Ozai banished everyone in all of the Sky Districts to Republic City, and converted Republic City into a huge Prison City. Anyone who openly spoke out against Ozai would be silenced by the secret police he organized: the Dai Li.

Also, Ozai changed the education system: instead of having small schools scattered through the city, he made one big one in the center: Avatar High School.

There were issues in the royal family, and Ursa took Zuko and left for the Earth District. They live with Iroh now.

The Comet comes next year. My father and several others from the Earth and Moon Districts are trying to find legal loopholes in Ozai's complicated law books so they can overthrow him and try to get the new Avatar to rule before the Sun Riots can happen again.

But the New Avatar might be in the Republic City prison, or dead, because he or she would have been in the Sky Districts. If that's so, they'd have been reincarnated in the next Moon District Waterbender pregnancy… but there haven't been many.

But I believe the New Avatar is somewhere out there.

X X X

My name is Gyatso. I am one of the last two airbenders in Avatar City, the other of which is my son, Aang.

You see… Aang is the next Avatar.

My connections all know, and they can all be trusted. In fact, Aang will meet them very soon.

But he doesn't know. I want Aang to grow up normally, so he can be better-equipped to be part of modern society. I'm sending him to Avatar High School for his last year of school. He's been homeschooled for most of his life, because we've had to hide from the Sun District and the Dai Li.

Before Ozai banished the Sky Districts, my brother Pathik had heard the rumors and warned me, Pasang, and Iio. I took Aang and managed to escape before it happened, and now, we're living in the Kyoshi District, between the School and the Southern Moon District.

Before I tell Aang everything, I hear from Pathik that there are plans to overthrow Ozai before the Comet comes. He needs a healthy learning environment, and only when it's safe will I burden Aang with the knowledge that he is the Avatar.

I only hope this is the right decision.

X X X

A/N

This is supposed to be like the show's first episode's introduction.

A long time ago, the 4/2 Nations/Ities lived together in harmony, then everything changed when…

All that stuff.

Also, this is only the introduction, hopefully the next chapter will be published in an hour or so.

You don't have to review this chapter, because it's just a narrative history lesson. Next chapter is just character profiles from Katara's POV and an overview of the present.

End A/N


	2. Introductions: Katara and Zuko

A/N

The real story starts probably next chapter. This will get into all the characters and story overview.

Also, I'm terrible at writing first person, especially female POV, but it's kinda necessary for the chapter. You'll probably see why.

End A/N

X X X

_Last day b4 school, and you wanna go 2 the JazDrag?_

_Well, duh. Y would u give up the opp 2 get Iroh's tea? Plus, Haru said he and Teo would be there. What else do YOU have planned?_

Sokka didn't answer right away.

_Fine, let's go. You let Suki know?_

_Actually, we agreed to go before I told you._

_Ur mean, Kat_

_I know. :) Now wake up._

Sokka's a year older than me, 16 and starting his Junior Year tomorrow. My brother can be an idiot at times (a lot of times), but he's been in the top percentile for his whole high school career. Already, he's gotten invited to the University. He'll major in engineering and minor in law, like dad.

Hakoda's in his mid-30's, and he's chief executive of the South Moon District. Bato is the vice-executive. We don't see dad very much these days, he's hard at work dealing with General Bujing and Admiral Chan, from the Sun District. General How and Tyro are from the poor part of the Earth District, which was dubbed the Sand District for being so close to the desert. The Bei-Fongs and the Ag-Ni's are from the Earth District; the Ag-Ni's are from the Sun District, they're just there to keep tabs for Ozai. Arnook and his wife are from the North Moon District.

Ever since the Sun Riots, I hear from dad those meetings are tense. Over the phone. None of us have seen much of dad since… since mom died. I was barely a year old when it happened. Meaning, we barely ever spend time together. Dad's always busy with work: I think it's his escape. I guess that's why we don't stay at home with Gran-Gran a lot.

Kanna's in her early 50's. I don't know anything about who her husband was, but she told me she'd lived in the North Moon District, where Sozin tried to arrange her marriage. She left for the South Moon District, but she didn't know she was pregnant with mom.

Kya was born just a year after Hakoda. He and Gran-Gran said we look so much alike. She didn't have the chance to turn twenty-one when… it happened.

Enough about that, I'm starting to feel sad now. I wrote a note for Gran-Gran while I was waiting for my brother to get ready.

**Sok and I went to Jasmine Dragon.**

**We'll be back in a few hours.**

**-Kat**

I heard footsteps coming from the hallway. On the left was the bathroom and my room, and on the right was Gran-Gran's room and Sokka's room. At the end of the hallway is the guest bedroom and storage room. Leaving the hallway, to the left was the living room and to the right was the kitchen. The door leading outside was on the far wall outside the kitchen. Just because your dad (technically) runs the District, it doesn't mean you automatically get a big house.

Well actually, our South Moon house is bigger, but we moved to the Kyoshi District. It was closer to school and dad's work. Tecnically, it's an extension of the South Moon District, but it's separated by the Southern Sky District. The same goes for the Roku District in the west*, the Kuruk District in the North, and the Yang-Chen District in the East.

'I'm ready, let's go.'

"Okay, let's…"

His hair… looks… totally ridiculous.

"What's with the ponytail?"

'It's a warrior's wolf-tail. I'm trying a new look!'

"Yeah… no. It's a ponytail."

'Sure, whatever. Let's go.'

X X X

The Kyoshi Orphanage is just a short walk down the street. Suki lives there. The Riots killed a lot of people.

I can see Iroh at the front. Iroh is in his early 40's, and is absolutely obsessed with tea.

He owns the place, and the Jasmine Dragon, the tea shop we're going to later. I think he wants to help kids because he couldn't help his own.

'Hello Katara. Sokka.'

"Hi, Iroh. Can you tell Suki we're here?"

'You don't have to wait outside, go on in!'

"Thanks, Iroh."

The walls inside are dark green with those light green circles with the square holes in the middle. It's not like normal orphanages, which are all depressing and dark-colored.

'Hey guys.'

"Hi Suki."

We don't really know when her birthday is, or who her parents were, or anything, but we're all sure she's about my age. She's talking to two of the other orphans, Kuzon and Ty Lee.

Kuzon's about Sokka's age. He's got dark-brown hair to his shoulders and gray-brown eyes. Like Suki, we don't know much about him. Ty Lee's about 15, and she looks suspiciously like Kuzon: same hair color and eyes. We all have pretty much assumed they're siblings.

'What did you…' Suki began to ask. 'Do to your hair?'

'Yeah,' Kuzon added. 'What's with the ponytail?'

I think I can safely assume Sokka's going to be irritated all day today.

'It's NOT a ponytail!'

"Apparently, it's called a _wolf_tail."

'Whatever it's called, I like it!' Ah, Ty Lee, ever the flirt with my brother.

I'd make a sarcastic comment along the lines of 'what? There must be something wrong with you!' but… I can't. Not only because of her condition, but because of her friend Azula.

Iroh's voice called in. 'Ty Lee, my nephew's here!'

'Oh, that's Zuko and Azula! See you guys later!' And with that, she left.

Out the window, we could see Zuko's car. In it was Zuko in the driver's seat, June in the front passenger, and Azula and Mai in the back, making room for Ty Lee to get in.

Zuko and June are 16, and Azula and Mai are 15. Zuko and June have been friends ever since before high school, and so have Azula and Mai. Back before their family was screwed up, Zuko and Azula had invited June and Mai over, and Ursa tried to get them to play together. June and Mai got along great. So did Zuko and Mai, as well as Azula and June. They then became more of a group together.

But there was the incident that gave Zuko a huge burn scar, and the family was ripped apart: Ursa took Zuko and Azula away from Ozai, but something happened and Azula now lives with her father. Now, Zuko and Azula only talk if June and Mai are with them.

Ty Lee being part of their inner circle is an interesting story. Azula approached her and offered to have her in the inner circle. I'm pretty sure that was just a ploy to make them (mostly Azula) more popular. But, Zuko, June, and Mai are good to her.

Mai's parents are the Ag-Ni's, Ozai's eyes on the Earth Distict. June's dad is the Combustion Man, the scary guy with the creepy third-eye tattoo who watches the detentions at school. No one dares to call him by his real name… Well that, and it's hard to say Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis**. Also, no one calls June by her last name either.

We waited for Zuko to drive off before we set off to the Jasmine Dragon. Suki said good-bye to Kuzon, Jin, and Song, and the three of us left.

X X X

'What's with your hair?'

'…What's with your 'stache?'

I'm not sure which is worse.

Haru's dad, Tyro, is head of the Sand District under General How under Ozai. The Sand District is right next to the South Moon and Kyoshi Districts. A few years ago, Hakoda and Tyro had a meeting with General Bujing from the Sun District, but Gran-Gran couldn't watch us that day, so Dad took us. We couldn't go into the room with them, so we stayed in the waiting room. Tyro had taken Haru with him, too, and we met. School started a few weeks later, and Haru and I are the same age, so we became friends. Suki and Teo are our age too, and the four of us still meet regularly.

Teo's our age. He was hurt badly during the Sun Riots, and now he uses a wheelchair: he's not self-conscious about it or anything, but it doesn't mean people aren't jerks. His dad is the Mechanist, the physical science teacher at school. Teo and Sokka were top of the class, and the Mechanist had asked both of them to help with things for the school, and eventually Sokka joined me, Suki, Haru, and Teo. Like now in the tea shop.

The tea shop is near the border between the Kyoshi and Yang-Chen Districts. Iroh owns the shop, and he manages it on Fridays and Saturdays, but for on the other days, Iroh hired Pao. Pao's wife is Mrs. Wu. But everyone at school calls her Aunt Wu. She's the school nurse when Yugoda's teaching the Healing Waterbending class. Pao and Aunt Wu had a daughter, Meng: she works here, too. Meng's younger than us by a year, and she's going to start high school tomorrow. She's friends with Koko.

Behind us, I could hear the door opening. Turning around, I saw it was a group of teens lead by… Jet…

Jet's 16. He lives in the Yang-Chen Orphanage, because of the Sun Riots: they all do. Behind him are Longshot, Smellerbee, Sneers, and The Duke. Smellerbee's the only girl in the group. Everyone is a year younger than Jet, and The Duke is two years. They've all been together for as long as I can remember. I see Jet talking to Pao about something.

After a few minutes, they all started to leave, but Jet stopped at our table.

'Hey, you're in my class. Sokka, right?'

'Uh… yeah…'

For some reason, Sokka doesn't really like Jet. I don't really have any idea why, but it's probably because Jet's dated a lot of people at school and… Well, I think he's just jealous because Sokka's never had a girlfriend.

'And I've seen the rest of you around. Your dad's the Science Teacher, your dad's head of the Sand District, you're from the Kyoshi Orphanage, and you…' Directed at Teo, Haru, Suki, and now me. 'You're Sokka's sister, aren't you?'

"Sadly, yes."

That comment elicited a 'hey!' from him.

'Isn't your dad head of South Moon?'

"Yeah, he is."

He's chewing on some kind of grass or wheat, or something.

'What's your name?'

"Katara. That's Teo, Haru, Suki, and, well, you know Sokka."

'Cool. Nice to officially meet you all.'

"Nice to officially meet you, too, Jet."

'I guess I'll see you all tomorrow at school. Bye Katara. Haru, Teo, Suki. Sokka.'

He turned towards the door and started to leave. I looked back at our table, and Sokka was fuming, Suki was trying to calm him down, and Teo and Haru looked annoyed.

What's their problem?

X X X

A while later, we all started going home. We paid for our tea, and Teo and Haru left, leaving me, my brother, and Suki.

"So… what now?"

'I guess we should go home. I mean, tomorrow's school, so we should get some rest.'

After dropping Suki off at the Orphanage, I saw Zuko dropping Ty Lee off. No one else was in the car. After Ty Lee went inside, I could hear some Screamy song playing in the car, and Zuko drove off.

When we got home, Gran-Gran was asleep on the couch, so Sokka and I went straight to bed. I let my hair down, turned my alarm on, and went to sleep.

Tomorrow, another boring school year's going to start. At least I can catch up with Master Pakku and Nurse Yugoda for Waterbending classes.

X X X

Must turn off… Annoying buzzing sound…

Wait, school's tomorrow… Why's my phone going off?

_Hey Zuko, it's Mai. Azula's being Azula 2day, you mind picking us up?_

_Hey Zuko, it's June. Dad's being Dad 2day, you mind picking me up?_

_Hi Zuko! Its Ty Lee, r u x-ited 4 school 2morrow? Suki sez she's going out w/ her friends, can we do sumthing 2? I txtd Azula+June,& they sed they asked u 2! Pretty Please Zuko?_

So, it's gonna be one of THOSE days, isn't it. –sigh- oh, well.

After I answered the texts (yes to all 3), I got out of bed, made sure I was presentable (which was basically moving my hair to cover the burn and putting on a clean shirt), and went downstairs.

On the fridge are two notes:

_Zuko,_

_The University called, they need me back a day early, sorry we can't spend the last day of summer together. I promise we'll do something this weekend._

_Ursa_

_Nephew,_

_I'm at the Orphanage today, and Pao's at the Jasmine Dragon. I saw your mother's note, and I'm sorry things are like this. I'll be working until midnight, so feel free to do whatever you want._

_Dinner's in the fridge._

_Iroh_

Uncle Iroh owns a Tea Shop and an Orphanage, so we don't see eachother much. He talks in proverbs and anecdotes, and he can be annoying at times, but I'm glad we're close. But I'd never tell anyone that.

Mom works at the University: Uncle works 2 jobs to support himself, and with me and Mom staying with him, we need more income. But Ozai won't let either of us be hired anywhere he owns, and the University is privately run by the Headmaster, so that's the only place she could go. It severely limits the time we can see eachother, and I'd work there myself, but I have school.

Mai's Azula's friend, and we get along great. June's my friend since middle school: she and Mai are a lot alike. Ty Lee's been with us for a few years now, and she's very… bubbly… but I'm glad we have someone who can balance out the rest of us.

Azula and I… don't really get along. We tolerate eachother when we're with Mai, June, and Ty Lee, but even then, we get along worse than a divorced couple. She's very controlling when she's on her meds, but she'll die or go crazy if she gets off of them, and she's in a fragile state of mind ever since she was separated from her dad for a few days, so I let her have Mai, June, and Ty Lee during school hours.

After breakfast (power bar), I grabbed the keys and locked the front door. I got into my red-and-black Jeep (16th Birthday present, from when Uncle and Mom had saved up for years) and started it up.

My mix started playing, A7X's Almost Easy, and I drove towards the Sun District to get June, Mai, and Azula.

At June's house, I could see her at the front door. Her Dad, the Combustion Man, doesn't talk, but he and June still fight a lot. June's mom… I don't even know, she never talks about it, but I think it was an abandonment issue.

She got into the front seat and slammed the door.

"What is it this time?"

'Nyla scratched up the yard.'

Nyla is June's Shirshu. She's had him since she was really little.

'There're chemicals just a few feet under. So we kind of argued, and I'm giving him time to calm down.'

He doesn't talk, but June reads his eyes. If a stranger overheard, they'd think she was crazy because there's only one voice.

Her favorite Static-X, Push It, came on, and she cranked the volume.

Next on the list is Azula and Mai… at Ozai's house. Mai stays over with Azula because she'd rather deal with one controlling friend than two controlling parents. Luckily for her, her parents approved of Mai befriending the princess.

June got out and went to get Mai and my sister. I can't, literally can't go. Ozai filed a restraining order against me for 'assault'. Apparently, I can only defend _myself_.

They came back out, and I could see Mai was annoyed. To anyone else, her face was an impassive blank, but me, June, and Ty Lee could read her after a few years.

'Hello, Zu-Zu.'

Azula knows it annoys me, but she does it anyways.

"…Zula… Mai."

'Hey, Zuko.'

They got into the backseat, and June went back into the front. Bullet's 4 Words came on; Mai's favorite. Azula hated all music, but she preferred mine over Ty Lee's. I actually think that Azula _will_ go crazy if she hears another Lady Gaga.

Speaking of Ty Lee, she's still at the Orphanage.

Before I turned onto the street, I put in the grunge mix. Normally, I'd say 'too bad', but because of Ty Lee's condition… she wouldn't be able to handle it.

'Ty Lee, my nephew's here!'

'Oh, that's Zuko and Azula! See you guys later!'

Mai moved over so Ty Lee could sit. I could see that South Moon girl and her brother through the window. Before they could come out, I drove off.

'Hi guys!'

The mix started, and Ty Lee got excited. Surprisingly, she's taken a liking to Nirvana recently.

Not wanting to drive around aimlessly, in close proximity with my sister, I asked what they wanted to do.

"Any requests? Where are we going?"

X X X

After we had lunch, Me, June, and Mai were outvoted by Azula for what to do. Great, me, June, and Mai are going to see Ty Lee and Azula shop. Sounds like fun.

Crap… I see Chan and friends.

Chan's dad is the Admiral, in charge of the Sun District. Ruon and Jian, identical twins are his best friends. Their father is General Bujing, under Admiral Chan for the Sun District. They think they're the most popular kids, aside from that Jet guy. His stupid band, the 'Freedom Fighters' probably helps.

Oh, what's this? There's two new recruits: Hide and On Ji. They're both commoners from the Lower-Class Sun District, dubbed the Colonies. Hide's arm is possessively around On Ji's shoulders. She doesn't look angry, or happy, or anything. Hmm.

Luckily, they didn't see us. A while later, Ty Lee and Azula were finished. It was going to start getting late by that time, so we decided to go somewhere for dinner before I dropped them all off at their various homes.

We were going to go to the Jasmine Dragon, but Jet's van was there, and through the window, I could see them and- that South Moon girl again. Azula said she didn't want to get tea (yeah, right, she just didn't want to see Uncle.). But, Ty Lee, Mai, and June agreed, so we went somewhere else.

When we were done, I dropped Mai and Azula off at Ozai's mansion. I dropped June off, and Ty Lee jumped to the front seat.

'Did you have fun, Zuko?'

No.

"Yeah, it was great."

Silence, except for Aaron Lewis. When Ty Lee started liking Staind, I felt weirded out. It looks like Mai and June are getting to her.

'I had fun today. Are you excited for school tomorrow?'

No!

"Sure am."

We got to the Orphanage.

'See you tomorrow, Zuko!'

With that, she got out of the car. She waved, then went inside.

I swapped out CD's again. Ah, good old Five Finger Death Punch.

I could see the South Moon girl again. What, is she following me? No, Zuko, quit being paranoid.

I sighed. My whole life has been like this: hope, crushed by circumstance. Ashes: how fitting a song for how I'm feeling. I guess not, though: I've got June, Mai, and Ty Lee, and Mom and Uncle.

I drove back home. I let The Bleeding fade out, then I got out of the car. I unlocked the door, saw that Mom and Uncle were still gone, and just went upstairs to my room.

I wasn't looking forward to school tomorrow, but when it's all over and done with, I can go work at the University, and hope for a better life: not just for myself, but for the rest of my family.

**End of Chapter One**

*(so the sun rises in the west. Pretend it's in the Southern Hemisphere, or something.)

**(Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis III is the alias used in Episode 4: The Earth King. Katara said her name was June Pipinpadaloxicopolis to back up the story.)

A/N

This is the longest thing I've ever written for . Sorry for the slow update, but they'll come faster now that I've slogged through the first little bit.

Predictions, requests, CC, anything? Next chapter will come quicker if you review…

By the way, this takes place August 31, 2014. The calendar is for that year, because the Sun Riots were 14 years ago.

Next Chapter is the introduction of Aang and Toph, and the first day of school. The teachers will be crammed with fan service to the show. Stay tuned…

End A/N


End file.
